‘Quality’ candidates have been sadly lacking | Letter to the editor

I am voting for Rasham Nassar. I am impressed by her platform, which promises fiscal responsibility, transparency, non-motorized transportation priorities, a holistic approach to affordable housing, and a consideration of climate change impacts.

She is informed, articulate and smart.

I’m glad Rasham has stepped forward to oppose Wayne Roth. I voted for Roth, along with Tollefson and Townsend. They ran on a platform of “quality,” but that’s not what they delivered.

Their most galling move? Voting against a $7.5 million proposal to co-locate our new police headquarters with the fire department.

After that, they offered a $15 million proposal to build the headquarters on a toxic site next to city hall.

That proposal did not hold the expenses to $15 million. They pushed for $15 million up front just to get started and no one knew how expensive it would be in the end. That’s why, when Proposition 1 went to a vote by island taxpayers in 2015, 75 percent of us voted against it.

Roth’s response? He and the “quality” slate took the decision for the siting of the police headquarters away from a vote by the taxpayers, placing it instead squarely with the city council, using councilmanic bonds. The current price tag? $28.5 million.

I have other complaints against the “quality” candidates, but they’re too long for this letter.

For more of the same, vote for Wayne. For the change we need, vote for Rasham.